Salt / baking soda

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scoob
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Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 7:53 pm

Salt / baking soda

Post by scoob »

hi folks, just stumbled across this site after reading books to educate myself on the procceses of distilation and i love it. however i would like to know:
Can you add both salt and baking soda to get a better final product than just adding either? i have never read this in any of my books but i am willing to try anything to improve the quality of my final drop
rad14701
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Re: Salt / baking soda

Post by rad14701 »

Welcme to the forums, scoob...

The welcome center is intended to be used to introduce yourself and share your level of experience with the home distillation craft/hobby rather than asking specific questions... Other forums would be better suited for the bicard with salt question...

Do you currently have experience and, if so, what type of spirits do you like and what equipment do you use...??? If you have equipment, we love still porn...

Good luck...
scoob
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Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 7:53 pm

Re: Salt / baking soda

Post by scoob »

Hey Rad,
I’ve been distilling for about 2 years, the first year was really hit and miss as i didn't have internet and everything i learnt was from a couple of books. i met a couple of distillers at work 1 night and got chatting, their advice was awesome and improved my final product HUGE, thinking i had little more to learn about distillation ,lol, i have been shocked by the volume of information on this site, it's awesome.
I originally bought my still to distil off some home made alcoholic soft drinks I’d made and was playing with the alcohol volume (got it up to 18%) and was undrinkable. so decided to make some "fruit brandy", it actually turned out not to bad even with all the heads and tails, bit of a bite but aged on oak the flavour was not to bad. My home brew guy has been of little help apart from selling me the gear to use, have tried other shops but most are beer makers with virtually no spirit info and just want to sell me more books.
I use a 25L still spirit still, a small reflux with only a marble, however I’ve attached an old settlers” column that holds 500g of rasching rings. And it’s brought my temperature down to a consistent 78 – 79 C over the first 6 hrs and then 80 – 81 C for the last 2 hrs. With the time it takes to heat up it’s a 9hr job, I have a timer set up that shuts everything down as I don’t always have time to watch it. i almost forgot, i also have a pot still head on a lid that fits my still for when i do whiskeys and rums.
My distilling room is air-conditioned at a constant 20 C blowing on a 400 L cooling tank that recycles my water for cooling. I also do my fermenting in this room as it allows a nice even fermentation temperature.
Since posting my question I have found the answer on the site (I got a bit excited and jumped in early).
I would love to hear of what else I could do to help my setup as it is a big hobby these days.
thanks for the heads up that i was in the wrong area for Q & A's, i'm not to computer literate.

Regards
Scoob
HookLine
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Location: OzLand

Re: Salt / baking soda

Post by HookLine »

Hi scoob, and welcome.
My distilling room is air-conditioned
That could be a problem. Not the air-con, but the fact the room is closed, ie not ventilated. You really need to still in a well ventilated area, so if there are any leaks from the still then vapour will not build up. Vapour building up is a very dangerous situation, it is highly explosive in the right concentrations. Comparable to petrol fumes.

I'm guessing from the air-con that you live in a hot area, and that running the still without a/c gets pretty warm. I sympathise, I live in the steamy tropics and it gets real hot here for at least half the year, especially with a still running. But I turn the a/c off and open the windows when I run the still. Freaking hot, but way better than getting blown up.
Be safe.
Be discreet.
And have fun.
scoob
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Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 7:53 pm

Re: Salt / baking soda

Post by scoob »

thanks for the heads up hookline,
YES, very hot, spring has just started and we've already hit the 30's C, i can actually open ventilation and it puts the room at 25 C, will be worth not blowing up lol
thanks again
rad14701
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Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2007 4:46 pm
Location: New York, USA

Re: Salt / baking soda

Post by rad14701 »

Also, we don't consider it a good safety practice to leave a still unattended... I brief bathroom break is acceptable, but just walking away and not returning is not... Safety first and foremost...
scoob
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Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 7:53 pm

Re: Salt / baking soda

Post by scoob »

thanks rad,
noted and will change my practice..
i'm always willing to listen and learn guys, much appreciated
HookLine
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Posts: 5628
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 8:38 am
Location: OzLand

Re: Salt / baking soda

Post by HookLine »

YES, very hot, spring has just started and we've already hit the 30's C
Heh. Hitting 40 C (104 F) already here, and we got a way to go yet before it starts cooling back down. :roll: :(
Be safe.
Be discreet.
And have fun.
olddog
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Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: WEST OZ

Re: Salt / baking soda

Post by olddog »

Yup 34 degrees here in the west today.
OLD DOG LEARNING NEW TRICKS ......
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